Thirteen people apply online for divorce on Christmas Day in England and Wales

04/01/2019

Thirteen people applied online to divorce their partners on Christmas Day, according to government figures. During the period between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, 455 applications were lodged in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said. The figures have been recorded for the first time as part of statistics showing 150,000 people…

Thirteen people applied online to divorce their partners on Christmas Day, according to government figures.

During the period between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, 455 applications were lodged in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

The figures have been recorded for the first time as part of statistics showing 150,000 people accessed digital justice platforms in the past year. More than 300,000 people have registered with online justice services since 2015.

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The first full week of the new year is one of the busiest periods for initiating divorce proceedings, as unhappy couples, having failed to resolve their differences over Christmas, resort to specialist lawyers.

The MoJ launched its online divorce petition service in May 2018. The department said it had reduced errors in application forms from 40% to less than 1%. More than 23,000 applications have been made since then.

An online civil money claims service launched in March last year has received more than 39,000 applications. The MoJ said more than 85% of users reported being satisfied with both services.

The initiatives are part of a £1bn court modernisation programme largely funded by the sale of courthouses across England and Wales, which the MoJ said were underused.

The justice minister, Lucy Frazer, said: “These online services are already making a difference to people who use the justice system. As we reach this milestone, it’s encouraging to see people are reporting these services work well for them and are a better fit around their busy lives.”

During 2018, more than 81,000 online pleas were registered for low-level motoring offences via the make-a-plea service, which was first introduced in 2014.

The MoJ expects about 100 justice services to be available digitally by next year. Online services do not replace existing paper-based applications, but provide what the department said were quicker, easier routes for many claimants.